1. Field of the Invention
This invention is a solar power converter comprising a solar receiver and a heat exchanger. The device collects concentrated solar radiation in the form of heat and transports same to a device which may effectively utilize it, such as a heat engine, via a fluid which changes state at the solar receiver and again at the heat exchanger.
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 4,116,222 shows a solar energy collection system having a reservoir which in some sense may be considered to be a heat exchanger. Unlike the present invention, (1) the heat exchanger has a third fluid, used mainly for storage purposes, which results in energy loss; (2) the patent utilizes forced convection (i.e., a pump) to move its secondary fluid; and (3) the secondary fluid does not change state from a liquid to a gas.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,003,367 is a water-to-water solar heater. The secondary water (that which is heated by the sun), is not vaporized as in the present invention; it is moved through the system by means of the principle that heat rises, setting up a current in the water.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,083,490 is a solar heating system utilizing a reservoir 40 which contains water or other secondary fluid. Unlike the present invention, there is no phase change in the secondary fluid.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,951,204 is not a solar energy collector. It is a heat pipe without a wick. It transfers heat from a high elevation to a low elevation (opposite direction to that in the present invention) and does not convert heat from one fluid to another as in the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,603,101 is a thermosyphon which does not teach a solar application. It converts a fluid from a liquid to a gas.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,482,625 is a non-solar system which bubbles Freon .TM.into water. It discloses a heat exchanger having cooling coils surrounded by a liquid through which a gas is bubbled.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,111,184 and 3,998,206 show solar receivers not having heat exchangers; U.S. Pat. No. 4,135,367 is a heat pipe having a wick; U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,563,305 and 1,922,509 are secondary references.